Nikon Fieldscope Identification (1 Viewer)

Hi eveyone, I doubt whether this will be answered in time, but you never know.

I am about to buy a Nikon fieldscope second hand, and I am slightly concerned about model etc.

On the phone the description given sounds like a nikon fieldscope III 60mm with zoom eyepiece, all in very good condition. (It has the large focus barrel in the middle)

The questions I have are:
1. Could it be a fieldscope II for example (how can I tell?)
2. How can I age it (is the year in the serial for example?)
3. Has the III change much in its life (in otherwords is todays III considerably better scope than say 6 year old model eg waterproof, better lense coatings etc)
4. Could it be the ED model (now theres hoping ;-) )

Thanks in anticipation

Bob

OK... three things...

I can't help you identify the scope necessarily or give you any techie details, but...

1. How much are you paying? Check out warehouse express (link at the top of the page). They are doing some offers for new Fieldscope IIIs with extra kit. Worth a look, even if only to guage your second price offer.

2. IS IT STOLEN!!! If the price looks too good to be true, then it probably is too good to be true.

3. Could it be a ED? Could be... but see 2!

Good Luck :t:

Right, now I've got that answer out of the way, let me also take time, on behalf of all the Moderators and Admin Staff, to wish you a warm WELCOME to BirdForum.

If you have a bit of time, there's plenty of information in the digiscoping forums that might help make your decision easier.

Hope you'll return to us after the event, and let us know how you get on... and perhaps more importantly, what you see!!

:t:

Bob

What is your budget?

for what its worth the only thing I can say is the Fieldscope II was not waterproof.

Nabbed this from the BVD website

"New features in the III include full multi-coating of all surfaces, waterproofing, a slide-out lens hood, and a somewhat, overall, more modern look. "

This was a review of the ED version.

The III has a rubber armoured sliding sun shade and focuser. The focuser and objective ring on the II are metal. Either should indicate ED on the side of the prism housing. The ED version of the II has a narrow red band around the objective ring, not sure about the III. New fully multi-coated eyepieces and the 20-60X zoom appeared about 2 years ago. their eyecups twist in and out, the old ones had roll down rubber type.

FSII was a great scope in its day; FSIII is similar but fully waterproof (shouldn't matter much). 30xW is a knockout eyepiece if you get it; zoom is crystal clear, offers the most faithful colours, and sharp as a pin but doesn not have the widest field of view.

ED is better in some conditions, but Nikon non-ED is an excellent glass.

Let us all know how you get on. Whatever - you're in for a treat.

There are some offers for Non ED FS III on warehouse express.

e.g. Nikon Fieldscope III Straight model c/w 30x W eyepiece & Nikon Case £350 the angled is £399

oh and welcome to the forum

Many thanks

THanks every one for your rapid replies, cant believe it... excellent

I now have enough information to easily idintify the scope (except whether its the ED model)

to be honest I am confident that it is not stolen but the price I am paying is £125, and that gets me a zoom and stayon case.. so I am well pleased. The main thing I was trying to understand was whether the III model had changed to such a point where a six year old version was significantly poorer scope than current.

Anyway for the price its ideal.

I am off to blackpool now for the day (work!) but will tell you about myself later, but it may sound mad to you, but I need the scope because I am currently selling my leica apo 62mm.

Chat later

Bob

got scope

Ok folks, got the scope, but unfortunately its a fieldscope II, but its in good condition, lenses are perfect, case is as new and all for £100, so I am pleased as this should satisfy the amount i use a scope nowadays.

Don't be downbeat. You have a very popular scope indeed that received rave reviews not so long back. Get a decent tripod and you're well away.

scampo said:

Don't be downbeat. You have a very popular scope indeed that received rave reviews not so long back. Get a decent tripod and you're well away.

Click to expand...

Sorry, Im not too downbeat....I have just been comparing the apo 62 (which will be gone by the weekend) against the fieldscope in poor light conditions and boy has that cheered me up.

What I wont miss too much (when I think of the money ;-) )
Yes the leica is brighter... but not £700 more brighter
Yes the leica is better engineered, but for a casual user thats not that critical
Yes the leica is solid, but boy is it heavier, which for a walker is not to good.

However dislikes or what I will miss are:
I really dont like the focus mechanism on the scope, but I suspect that it has more to do with the skua case (as new worth £50+) which only allows access to the bottom half of the wheel. I imagine that on a tripod, and out of the case the wheel is good.
I will miss the larger glass on the eyepiece

But when I do wish that I had the leica back, I will take a look at the new guitar in my office and be happy again!

But all in all for the 4 times a year I use a scope, this will do fine, and if I see a better deal second hand I will buy that and sell this on.

Actually have just spotted a bushnell spacemaster cheap, but this is likely to be the same or worse quality.

Thanks for everything chat soon

Bob

Bushnell vs. Nikon? No comparison. The Nikon case allows the focusing ring to be used properly. The original Nikon zoom eyepiece is not as wide as the Leica which is still up there with the best. A 30xW on the Nikon is, however, a different story. You'll find it a match for the Leica.

scampo said:

A 30xW on the Nikon is, however, a different story. You'll find it a match for the Leica.

Click to expand...

Not on a non ED fieldscope II you won't!!

Anyway I'm fascinated why someone would sell a Leica APO 62 for a non ED fieldscope II!

pduxon said:

Not on a non ED fieldscope II you won't!!

Anyway I'm fascinated why someone would sell a Leica APO 62 for a non ED fieldscope II!

Click to expand...

Because, I have used the item less than half a dozen times in 12 months, sold it for more than I paid for it, and can now buy a new guitar that I use every day.

Life is a compromise unfortunately, whilst I would love to have the best of everything for every requirement, it is not always possible.

Currently, birding is third in line of my hobbies, the others being guitar and moutain biking (1st and 2nd respectively). Add a wife, young kids, and house rennovation oh and work, its likely to stay that way for quite a few years.

With china etc now producing binoculars comparable to leica etc for quarter of the price, then it is likely that the same will happen with scopes. If you dont beleive me about the binoculars, check out the Helios AM4 (I think). I have checked these bins out against my leicas BN and trust me they are comparable except they cost £170 as opposed to £700. I have come very close to selling the BN's and replacing with the Helios.

Any way thats enough of that....sorry, well I hope you get the picture, for you guys who birding is a priority, I am sure this may seem very odd.

bob

Sensible, I'd say. Hope your kids are keen on the countryside, too!

scampo said:

Sensible, I'd say. Hope your kids are keen on the countryside, too!

Click to expand...

They are and we do everything we can to encourage it without forcing it.

At 4 and 6 they each have a pair of bins to suit:

Helios 6x20 none focussing for the 4 year old (not marvelous but for £20 they are far superior to other £20 type bins)
Helios 8x25 fully sealed, bak4, coated etc for the 6 year old (which I also use for as my spare pair for keeping in the car. (btw these replaced a pair of 10x25 leicas)

Wife has swift ultralites 7x42 which are finally starting to show their age when compared to modern mid range bins.

I have an old pair of 10x42 ultralites which I ought to sell really, but they are a bit battered but optically perfect


and for fun
Guitars are old jackson, ibanez RG3020, and some new one soon to be funded by sale of Leica scope.
Bike, just upgraded from orange O2 to Giant ATX2

captain vallo said:

Because, I have used the item less than half a dozen times in 12 months, sold it for more than I paid for it, and can now buy a new guitar that I use every day.

Life is a compromise unfortunately, whilst I would love to have the best of everything for every requirement, it is not always possible.

Currently, birding is third in line of my hobbies, the others being guitar and moutain biking (1st and 2nd respectively). Add a wife, young kids, and house rennovation oh and work, its likely to stay that way for quite a few years.

With china etc now producing binoculars comparable to leica etc for quarter of the price, then it is likely that the same will happen with scopes. If you dont beleive me about the binoculars, check out the Helios AM4 (I think). I have checked these bins out against my leicas BN and trust me they are comparable except they cost £170 as opposed to £700. I have come very close to selling the BN's and replacing with the Helios.

Any way thats enough of that....sorry, well I hope you get the picture, for you guys who birding is a priority, I am sure this may seem very odd.

bob

Click to expand...

sounds like a common sense approach to me.

Quick update, thought you may be intrested in a comparison I made today with my leica and nikon today.

Well you will have to wait till tomorrow......... just creating some suspense... i know I am vindictive

Regards

We're on tenterhooks waiting. This just isn't FAIR!!

)-;

The wait is over (or should I say weight)

lol, sorry folks, I was originally going to provide you with my comparison of the two scopes last night, but as I started typing, one of the kids woke up and knowing I probably would not get a chance later……. well it seemed funny at the time.

Anyway for what its worth.
The contenders:

Leica 62APO as new (waiting for cash before despatching)
Nikon 60mm Fieldscope II (bit tatty looking but lenses perfect (surprisingly so))
Both with Zoom eyepieces (Nikon - 15/45, Leica – TBA (at work will update when I get home)
Both on tripods, angled so they are inches apart.

Caveats
Firstly, this is only my opinion, based on a non scientific test, but throughout, I have tried not to let my natural optimistic philosophy get the better of me. Remember I am replacing my beautiful Leica with a rough looking Nikon, so it would be all too easy to convince myself of reasons why the Nikon was better, as that is what I am going to be using from now on. Don’t know whether that makes sense, but I know what I mean.

In short I will not go into the law of diminishing returns, or the looks, or the build quality, all I will focus on is the actual operation and optical performance.

To The test then:
Conditions – Cloudless sunny day through to very cloudy (occasional rain) but all day time (no dusk test)
Location - In my back garden (80ft long), scopes one end viewing items other end
Observing –News paper with varying print sizes with most colours (plus surrounding greenery and flowers) (BTW - the paper was in shade the whole time!)

The Results

Ok as I said nothing scientific, but I did have an assistant, my eldest boy (6). Anyway before you all get bored:

In the bright light at about midday, I can honestly say that I could not tell the difference in quality of image. The sharpness, the brightness, the colours, fringing etc were identical on all zoom settings. I was able to read all the print on both scopes equally.

As the day progressed, so did the cloud cover! until it became quiet overcast (which was not surprising as we were going to have a bbq).

Under these conditions, I could discern a difference between the performance of the scopes, particularly at max zoom, with the Leica image being brighter and having superior colour definition, BUT not that much. I mean it was noticeable, but only just. This is very difficult to describe the difference, but if you were not looking at them right next to each other, I am sure that one would struggle to notice the difference even more. Another way perhaps to describe the optical performance is that if I kept both scopes, and used the Nikon as backup and was forced to use it for a day, I don’t think that I would miss the improved performance much ….if at all.

As for use of the equipment and so on, I find the wheel on the Nikon quite nice when not in the Skua case (which only allows access from underneath) I love the weight of the scope (being a walker before a birder), but of course this reflects build quality…..or does it?!?!

As for the Leica, well it really is a marvellous piece of engineering and looks absolutely wonderful, but when it’s in the stay on case, you don’t see it anyway. Also, I have never found the dual focus operation comfortable, but maybe that’s just me.

Where the Leica is superior is the larger lens piece and greater FOV, which I will miss.